It no longer makes sense to treat what happens in the mind as separate from embodied experience, even if much of it is implicit rather than explicit.

Neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and embodied cognition have been contributing to an emerging model of the human mind which is not just ‘top down’, i.e. focusing on the exceptionality of the human mind. Its focus on ‘bottom up’ processes stresses the continuity with other animals and other life forms.

We see this as a convergence with somatic and experiential approaches that track embodied experience. This is happening in a context where much of psychotherapy has moved from a medical model, in which a patient receives ‘treatment’, to an emphasis on relationality and the role of intersubjective experience.

The Somatic Perspectives podcast explores somatic psychology, relational therapies, mindfulness and trauma therapies. Most of this exploration takes the form of conversations with psychotherapists, occasionally researchers.

Stimulating ideas are discussed, as well as clinical examples. The style of the conversations is reflective, to slow down and deepen the process.

The conversations are recorded as MP3 files. You can listen to them on the site, or download them to play on any MP3 player. You can also read many of them as printable PDF transcripts (see link to the transcript on the same page as the conversation, below the bio).

This is a collaborative process, nourished by many conversations, such as the ones on this site, as well as other venues. This project’s editor, Serge Prengel, LMHC, is in private practice in New York City. See his perspective on the relational implicit and the felt sense.